Photoflash gun



Dec. 18, 1956 J. J. ZWALD PHOTOFLASH GUN Filed Sept. 50. 1953 INVENTOR. JOH N J ZWALD BY/ RNE United States Patent PHOTOFLASH GUN John J. Zwald, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., a corporation of Massachusetts Application September 30, 1953, Serial No. 383,361

3 Claims. (Cl. 240-37) This invention relates to a photoflash gun. More par ticularly, it relates to a repeating clip-fed flash gun for use in photography.

In an effort to shorten the time in which a photographer can get his apparatus ready to make a photograph the art has recently developed a flash gun which will permit the user to eject the flash lamp after it has been used. These flash guns, however, still present the normal problem to the photographer of replacing the ejected lamp with a fresh one which is taken from a pocket or other container and brought up and placed into the socket of the flash gun.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide an apparatus by which it will be possible for the photographer to eject a flash lamp and replace the ejected lamp with a fresh lamp ready for use, in taking the next photograph.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a flash gun in which the ejection of lamp and the loading of the next one takes place by a single simple action on the part of the photographer.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device whereby the ejection and replacement of the lamp with a new lamp making it ready for firing can be carried out in the shortest possible time.

These objects and other advantages incidental thereto can be accomplished with the use of a clip-fed flash gun in which the ejection of the used lamp and the feeding of the new one is accomplished by a trigger mechanism.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a cross sectional side elevation of a clip-fed flash gun embodying features of this invention.

Figure 2 is a front sectional elevation of the top portion of the flash gun showing'the flash lamp clip, the photoflash lamps in position within the clip, and a portion of the mechanism for feeding the lamp.

The clip-fed flash gun embodying features of this invention illustrated in the drawings consists essentially of fivefunctional elements, the first of these being a battery holder or casing 10, the second being a clip 20 for holding the flash lamps, the third a reflector 30,'the fourth" a mechanism 40 for setting off the flash lamp and the fifth a mechanismfor ejecting the dead flashed lamp and feeding a fresh lamp into operative position for use whenever the photographer should need it.

The battery casing 10 illustrated is for the most part identical or similar to those normally used for this very purpose in flash guns of the prior art. is shown is sufliciently large for the use of two batteries 12 and is provided at its bottom with a screw cap 14 and a spring 16 which serves to pressthe batteriesup into firm contact with each other and with a pin 18 which is positioned in an insulating member 19 at the top endof the battery casing. In its essentialfeatures this tructure of the insulating member 19 and the contact --18- are of course slightly different from those found The one which The Ice 2,774,862

in the prior art structures but need not necessariy be so. In essence, the metal casing 10 is merely a device wherein the source of energy is held and stored until it is needed.

In the illustrated embodiment of this invention the insulating member 19 is a portion of a body part. 22 which rests upon the battery carrying case 10 and is provided with an opening at its top end for receiving the clip 20. This clip 20 when fitted into the opening in body portion 22 extends downwardly therein and forms together therewith a container in which flash lamps 24 may be held in ready position. The upper portion of the clip is provided with a cap 26, with a spring 27 and pressure member 28 acting in cooperation therewith to press downwardly on the flash lamps 24 which are held in staggered position within the clip casing so that as pressure is brought to bear on the top lamp within the casing the lamps will gradually be forced down to the lowermost position within the casing. This position is located to one side of the casing. Therefore, in order to provide for a smooth flow of the lamps to this latter position a bafile 17 is provided near the bottom of the casing. This helps guide the lamps and avoids any jamming within the clip 20. The lowermost position in the clip 20 serves as the chamber from which the lamps are fed to the firing position in the flash gun. To make this feasible the front Wall 21 of the clip 20 does not extend completely down to the bottom of the clip but is designed to allow a suflicient opening therein to perbe ejected from the clip, a shoulder portion formed by the bottom wall which extends less than half the distance from the back to the front wall as shown at 25 in g the drawings. This prevents the lamps, from being forced down one by one out of the clip portion when it is not held in a container proper. A slotted opening 29 extends back'through the bottom wall and a slight distance up the back wall of the clip 20. This slot provides for the full front and back movement of a carriage 33 on The carriage isprovided with an upwardly extending finger 35 which is adapted'to' grasp carriage track 31.

hold of'the back end of the photoflash lamp 24 and pull it-out through the opening 'atthe bottomedge' to the front wall of'the clip when the carriage 33is moved; from the back toward the front face of the clip.-

The reflector which is used in this particular flash gun can, of course, be of any of the normal types or designs'and is not unique in any other respects other than in those which lend itself to the design of the-remainder" of the apparatus.

The trigger mechanism shown in the drawings'as" one embodiment of a mechanism suitable for ejecting a lamp which has been fired and bringing a lamp from the clip and putting it into'firingposition is operated by. Y means'of a hand grip 40 mounted in guide. rails 42 and 44 which are directly connected to the battery'casing 10. p This hand grip 40 acts as the ejection trigger and is held 1 away from the battery casingby means of coilsprings 46 and 48. The ejection trigger is in turn connected" with an arm 50 which serves as the support for a:- spring clamp-like photoflash bulb holder 52 adapted to hold the flash bulb in the proper position with respect to the reflector so as to give the maximum light when it is fired. This arm 50' passes upwardly from the hand grip 40 up into the inner areaof the reflector whichis Patented Dec. 18, 1956 It includes a pressure member arm 50 and the bulb holder 52 for this purpose. The bulb holder 52 has two finger-like members 54 and 56 connected by arm 55 which cooperate to form a cradlelike device in which the flash .bulb is held in firing position. The fingers 54 and 56 are somewhat fieirible and are spaced from one another a sufiicient distance to hold the flash bulb in a well balanced position. The fingers 5'4 and 56 are spaced from one another in such manner as to hold the bulb which is placed therein in a firm manner. Finger So is furtherpositioned with respect to lamp 24' which is held therein in such manner that it makes firm contact with themetallic base of the lamp proper. The legs of this finger 56 in particular are, of course, made of a conducting material and there is good electrical conduction'between the finger 56 with the' spring 46 through the connecting members 55 and 50.

In order to operate andfiash the lamp while held in this position means must, of course, be provided to connect the source of electric energy, namely, that in the batteries 12 with the lamp 24' and thus make an electrical circuit through the lamp components. In the embodiment'illustrated in the drawings this is accomplished by means of a plunger element 60 which makes contact with the pin 18 through the spring member 62. This plunger extends through the insulating section 19 of body portion 22 and makes contact with a contact'spring member 44 which is fastened at one end to the insulated portion of the ejection trig germechanism and extends upwardly into position between thefront end of the lamp 24 which is held in clip 20 and the back end of the lamp 24 which is held in the fingers 5'6 and 54 of the lamp holder. As thepluriger 60 is depressed it contacts the spring contact portion 44 through the projecting finger-like member and depresses it until it in turn:

contacts the center contact button 23 of the lamp 24,

In doin g this the spring 44 is caused topivot about" point 77 which is positioned slightly below the finger-like member 45- When this occurs the electrical circuit is completed and the lamp is flashed in much the same manner as is normally customary with photoflash lamps. Although the photoflash gun as shown is one which can be operated independently of any camera and any devices or synchronizing means as are normally provided in the prior art such means can readily be adapted to be operable with the device show n, so that the pushing of the plunger will simultaneously and synchronously trip the shutter at the proper ,time with the proper delay to make best use of the light provided by the flashing ofthelamp. v p V In the illustrated embodiment of this flash gun the contact spring 44 comes up from the grip 40 through 'a channel-like opening 75 provided in the body portion '22.

This opening, however, is restricted near its upper end due to the presence of a projecting element 77. This projecting element is positioned at this point so that when the forward position of the finger-like element 45 of the plunger 63 engages the contact spring the pivot point of the spring is positioned quite closely to the point at which the forward moving force is brought against the contactsprin'g 44 This makes it possible for the upper end of the contact member 44 to go through a rather wide are for a very small movementof the plunger 6 The remaining' functional element of the device as shown in the drawing is, of course,'the finger member 70 which is shownas a longflexible spring-like member attached at one end to the hand grip' ifi and at the other end to the carriage 33 which rides on carriage track 31. This member 7%) is provided with a slotted opening 71, ex-

tendi'ngbetweeir'the grip 40 and the carriage in order to permit the contact spring 44 to project upwardly therethrough at the point where the spring 70 leaves the channel 75, bends and extends into the chamber to car- -33.-

The operation of the clip-fed flash gun, particularly makes contact at. the free end with the center contact portion 23 of the'l'arnp 24 as it is-held inplace in the lamp holder. Since the finger is in electrical contact with the battery casing through the members 50 and spring 46 the lamp will be flashed. The operator will then bring pressure to bear on the grip 40 forcing it back toward the casing against the pressure of springs 46 and 48. In doing this the arm 50 bearing fingers 56 and 54 will be causedto move back toward a bulb which is in place in the bottom end of the clip 20. As the bulb contacts the front face of the bulb positioned therein the bulb 24 will be forced from the finger members 56 and 54 of the lamp holder and will drop from the flash gun.

Thereupon, the arm'50 and the fingers comprising the.

lamp holder will continue to move back to a point substantially below the front end of the forward wall of the clip Ztiwhich position is shown in dotted lines at 56'. This is the farthest point back that finger 56 extends in the course of its backward movement. While arm 50 is being moved back finger 35 attached to the spring mcmber'fll through carriage 33 will be caused to move in a forwardly direction and pull the last bottom bulb in the' slip ffor ward toward the lamp holder. This for- I ward'mo'tion of the finger 35 of the carriage is caused by the fact that as the grip 40 rnoves backwardthe spring memb r jis pulled over the rounded corners of a bearing portionof the body, portion 22 through channel 75. 'Since the member 70 isattached to the grip and is pulled back toward the casing naturally shortens, that portionof th spring member, 70 which extendsfrom the bearing part, 'of the channel ,to, the carriage 33 so that the point at which the ;gr ip 40 is closest to the battery casing the finger' 'will have morved the bulb out of the clip 20 to a positionin the 'lampholder as shown in dottedline atpoint .29 in the drawings.

During the course of the travelrbackward of the arm I 54) and the travel forward of the finger 35 the contact member 44 will also have been withdrawn from; the area between the bulb tqbe ejected and the bulb in themag-azine or clip. This is accomplished by the factthat the contact member .44 is also fastened tcrthe grip 46 andas the grip 40 moves back toward thebattery casing 10 the contact memberlhasto bend around the bearing surface 67 of the channel The movement issuflicient to pull the contact member 44 out of ,the path of eitherpf the bulbs, the bulb being ejected or thebulb which is coming out ofv the clip, Now as the grip 40is released I by the operator releasing the pressure against the springs 46 and 48 the arm 50 will travel to itsforward position bringing with it .the lamp holder which hadprevionsly been. in position to receive the lamp being discharged from the clip. As the grip'. 4ttmoves forward the spring member 70 and the carriage 33 ,will again be forced back up on the carriage track 31 to a position where the finger 35 can again graspthe back end of the newlamp which has been forced down into the lowermost position of the clip by the force of the spring 27 bearing on the pressure member.28, During the same motion the contact member 44 will also come back in position wherein p it extends up into the space between the live bulb in the clip and the bulbwhich is held in the fingers 56 and 54 of th am holder nw ri im e m n at bringing pressure to bear on the hand grip and releasing this pressure it is possible with a device such as, shown in the drawings to eject a lamp which has been held in.

the lamp holder and place a new lamp in the holder and bring it into position within the reflector portion ready for firing so that the light given off thereby can be used for maximum efliciency. Thus by this simple motion which can be carried out in a very rapid manner a photographer can be ready to shoot the next picture almost instantaneously and still make use of flash lamps for this purpose. The action is so fast that it may be said that the ejection and placing of the lamp in position before firing can be carried out almost as rapidly as an operator can flex the fingers of his hand.

While the above description and drawings submitted herewith disclose a preferred and practical embodiment of the photoflash gun of this invention it will be understood that the specific details of construction and arrangements of parts as shown and described are by way of illustration and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A repeating photoflash gun comprising a reflector formed with an opening concentric of its axis of symmetry, a magazine adapted to receive a stack of flash bulbs, said magazine having an unloading position in which a flash bulb is disposed along a feed path aligned with said axis of symmetry, a bulb holder supported within said reflector along said axis of symmetry and retractible along said feed path into said magazine to receive successive bulbs from said magazine, and feed means extensible along said feed path to advance a flash bulb from said unloading position through a predetermined linear thrust toward said reflector for endwise insertion into said bulb holder.

2. A flash holder comprising a reflector, a magazine rearwardly of said reflector adapted to receive a plurality of flash bulbs in stacked and staggered relation, said flash bulbs being movable into an unloading position along a feed path substantially coinciding with the axis of said reflector, means urging said flash bulbs toward said unloading position, feed means operative through a predetermined linear thrust along said feed path for advancing successive bulbs forwardly along said feed path toward said reflector, a bulb holder along said feed path and normally in operative relation to said reflector, means mounting said bulb holder for movement rearwardly along said feed path, and actuating means operatively connected to said feed means and to said bulb holder for moving said feed means forwardly along said feed path and for simultaneously moving said bulb holder rearwardly along said feed path, simultaneous movement of said feed means and said bulb holder being eflective to eject a bulb from said bulb holder and to insert the next bulb in said bulb holder.

3. A flash holder comprising a reflector, a magazine rearwardly of said reflector adapted to receive a plurality of flash bulbs movable into an unloading position along a feed path substantially coinciding with the axis of said reflector, feed means operative along said feed path for advancing successive bulbs forwardly along said feed path toward said reflector, a bulb holder along said feed path normally in operative relation to said reflector, means mounting said bulb holder for movement rearwardly along said feed path, and actuating means operatively connected to said feed means and to said bulb holder for moving said feeder means forwardly and along said feed path for simultaneously moving said holder rearwardly along said feed path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,869,158 Lipp July 26, 1932 2,006,171 Kalhaus et a1. June 25, 1935 2,254,888 De Margitta Sept. 2, 1941 2,672,039 Schwartz et a1. Mar. 16, 1954 

